Freestate Shooters perform well at regionals

The U-19 Freestate Shooters girls' soccer team advanced to the United States Youth Soccer Association Region I Championship final Tuesday morning in Barboursville, W.Va, where it suffered a 1-0 setback in overtime to Pennsylvania's FC Delco Fury II.

Two Laurel-based teams, the U-18 Wildcats and the U-17 Lightning, also participated in the Region I Championships. The Wildcats, like the Shooters, were making their third consecutive appearance in the event, while the Lightning was there for the first time. The Wildcats went 1-1-1 and the Lightning went 0-2. Neither team advanced past the preliminary round.

The Shooters went 4-1, their best performance at the event. They reached the semifinals in 2007.

"We had hoped to win it all, but we played a really good team in FC Delco," said Shooters Manager Hugh Blocker. "It was an evenly-matched game. They put a ball in the net in the first overtime period in the 12th minute, then they defended well the rest of that first overtime plus the 15 minutes of the second overtime."

The Shooters entered the final having outscored their other four other tournament opponents, 14-1. They won their semifinal game against Albertson 89 Fury of New York, 2-0, scoring two second-half goals.

Tiffany McCarty and Toni Pressley were Freestate's top goal scorers in the tournament. McCarty is a Laurel resident who is entering her sophomore year at Florida State University. Pressley plays for the U-20 Women's National Team and also attends Florida State. Both players are members of the Washington Freedom W-League team.

Bowie residents Kelsi Morris also is on the Shooters' roster, along with Karen Blocker. Morris is entering her sophomore year at the University of Pittsburgh. Blocker is a sophomore at Liberty University.

"It's sad to lose," said Hugh Blocker. "We felt we had a good chance of winning the region and going on to the nationals. But it's more sad that this is the end of 10 years for this team being together. These girls have spent a long time together and spent countless hours working on their game. We had as many as seven practices a week in preparation for this tournament alone. They have been together since their days playing with the Boys and Girls Clubs and high school after that."

The Shooters are coached by Win Puffer, who joined the staff last year and also is a coach with the Washington Freedom. Tom Nairn also is on the Shooters' coaching staff and is the team's founder. His daughter, Christine, plays for the Shooters.